10 Stocks the Best Fund Managers Have Been Buying in 2025

As we near the end of 2025, plenty of unanswered questions remain about tariffs, economic growth, inflation, and interest rates. And while US stocks have enjoyed a solid performance this year on paper, the ride has been bumpy.

Where has the “smart money” been finding investment opportunities in this year’s market?

To find out, we looked at the latest portfolios of some of the best fund managers. To isolate the top stock-pickers among current active fund managers, we screened on the following:

• Actively managed funds that land in US large-value, US large-blend, or US large-growth Morningstar Categories.
• Funds with at least one share class earning Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Gold, Silver, or Bronze with 100% analyst coverage.
• Funds that hold 50 stocks or fewer as of their most recently reported portfolios.

Twenty-nine separate fund portfolios passed our screen. We then compared the latest portfolios of these funds with their portfolios three months before to determine what stocks these managers have been buying.

Some of the stocks that top managers have been buying look fairly valued today, according to Morningstar, but there are some undervalued stocks in the mix, too.

10 Stocks That the Best Fund Managers Are Buying in 2025

Here are the stocks that top managers have been investing in lately.

1. Nvidia NVDA
2. Salesforce CRM
3. Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO
4. The Trade Desk TTD
5. Boston Scientific BSX
6. Arista Networks ANET
7. Keurig Dr Pepper KDP
8. Kroger KR
9. McKesson MCK
10. Qualcomm QCOM

Here’s a little bit about each stock pick, along with some commentary from the Morningstar analysts who follow the companies. All data is as of Nov. 18, 2025.

Nvidia

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 8
• Morningstar Rating: 3 Stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Growth
• Sector: Technology

The best fund managers’ top stock pick during the latest quarter was Nvidia, one of four technology names on our list. Morningstar thinks this wide-moat stock is fairly valued.

Here’s Morningstar senior analyst Brian Colello‘s take on Nvidia earnings:

Nvidia reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $57 billion, up 22% sequentially, up 62% year over year, and ahead of guidance of $54 billion. Nvidia’s forecast for the January quarter of $65 billion would be ahead of the FactSet consensus estimate of $62 billion and be up 65% year over year.

Why it matters: Nvidia again delivered excellent revenue growth as artificial intelligence demand still exceeds supply. Results contrast with AI bubble fears, although we view the risks as longer-term in nature. Nvidia’s supply chain is expanding even faster than in prior quarters, allowing for revenue acceleration.

• Data center revenue was $51.2 billion, up 66% year over year and up by $10 billion or 25% sequentially. Nvidia’s supply commitments are up 63% year over year, and the firm is preparing for even stronger growth with its latest Blackwell Ultra products.
• Nvidia has reiterated its expectations of $500 billion of Blackwell and Rubin product revenue by the end of calendar 2026, which we think implies $300 billion-plus of data center revenue in calendar 2026. Nvidia still foresees $3 trillion-$4 trillion of annual AI infrastructure spending by 2030.

The bottom line: We raise our fair value estimate for wide-moat Nvidia to $240 from $225 as we lift our revenue estimates in the near term and beyond. We keep our Very High Morningstar Uncertainty Rating, given the fast-moving deals being made in AI. Shares rose about 6% after hours.

• We still see Nvidia shares as undervalued and view recent AI bubble chatter as a buying opportunity. Longer-term concerns about AI funding and energy buildouts are valid in the medium to long term, but 2026 is shaping up to be another stellar AI year, in our view.

Coming up: Nvidia not only expects strong revenue growth in the January quarter but also healthy gross margins in the 75% range. The firm is seeing higher input costs, but we anticipate that Nvidia’s strong pricing power will enable the firm to pass these costs on to customers.

Read Morningstar’s full report on Nvidia.

Salesforce

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 6
• Morningstar Rating: 4 Stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Core
• Sector: Technology

In addition to being among the top buys of the best fund managers this year, Salesforce is also one of the more undervalued names among the group: It looks 28% undervalued relative to Morningstar’s fair value estimate of $325.

Here’s what Morningstar senior analyst Dan Romanoff had to say after Salesforce’s recent investor day:

Salesforce hosted an investor day at Dreamforce 2025, focusing on artificial intelligence and its Agentforce 360 Solution. Management also introduced new long-term financial targets, including at least $60 billion in revenue and to be a rule of 50 company by 2030.

Why it matters: The stock has lagged enterprise software peers in recent months, which we think is due to the growth deceleration post-covid and uncertainty around AI adoption. The revenue and margin targets are both meaningfully ahead of our model.

• Our revenue estimates are slightly below FactSet consensus for fiscal 2026 and slightly above for fiscal 2027. In order to hit management’s $60 billion in revenue target, we have to boost our growth rate by about 150 basis points annually—and this excludes the pending Informatica acquisition.
• In order to hit management’s rule of 50 framework, they would need to generate a non-GAAP operating margin of 40% on top of the 10% revenue growth, so we would have to raise our margin assumptions by at least 200 basis points annually.

The bottom line: We are maintaining our fair value estimate of $325 per share and see shares as attractive even without adjusting our model for management’s new fiscal 2030 targets. All else equal, if we made our model in line with these guideposts, our fair value would be about $50 higher.

• We would prefer to see evidence of sustained revenue acceleration and more substantial margin improvements before increasing our estimates to fully reflect these bullish guideposts.

Big picture: Management expects the newly released Agentforce 360 to be at the center of the company’s growth strategy, as all of Salesforce’s applications have been re-architected to have Agentforce serve as the base of everything, hence the agentic enterprise theme.

• Agentforce 360 is the fourth iteration of Agentforce, demonstrating the company’s ability to rapidly innovate and deliver on customer feedback, including more flexible pricing options.

Read Morningstar’s full report on Salesforce.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 5
• Morningstar Rating: 3 Stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Value
• Sector: Healthcare

The first large-value stock on our list of the names top fund managers are buying, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a wide moat rating and its shares look fairly valued.

Here’s what Morningstar director Alex Morozov had to say about Thermo Fisher Scientific’s recent results:

Thermo Fisher Scientific delivered decent third-quarter results, with demand slowly improving across all major segments. Operating margin improved modestly as well.

Why it matters: Thermo Fisher grew 3% organically in the quarter, a year-over-year improvement and a continuation of the prior quarter’s steadying trend. Challenges in the academic and government end market continued, but demand rebounded moderately across most other channels.

• In pharma and biotech, Thermo delivered mid-single-digit growth, with strength in bioproduction and analytical instruments. China continued to be a drag, down midsingle digits, as tariffs and trade uncertainties suppressed demand.
• Cost-reduction efforts are mitigating the impact of tariffs, which have come in further below previous indications. Thermo Fisher raised its earnings growth guidance to reflect lower tariff costs, organic improvements, and acquisitions.

The bottom line: We’re maintaining our $630 fair value estimate and wide moat rating. The shares appear modestly undervalued, though most of the midyear discount is now gone as demand has gradually improved.

• Thermo Fisher’s slightly higher guidance is in line with our organic forecast, as most of the raise came from acquisitions. We anticipate 2026 to exhibit a similar trend, though China’s demand weakness has been a resilient negative surprise.
• Profitability improvement in the quarter was mainly a factor of cost-cutting. Our long-term profitability forecast is unchanged. Given the uncertain environment, we anticipate that Thermo Fisher will keep a lid on its investments and continue to focus on the cost structure.

Read Morningstar’s full report on Thermo Fisher Scientific.

The Trade Desk

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 1
• Morningstar Rating: 4 Stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Mid Growth
• Sector: Communication Services

The first mid-cap stock pick among our top managers last quarter, The Trade Desk looks 33% undervalued relative to Morningstar’s $60 fair value estimate.

Here’s what Morningstar analyst Mark Giarelli had to say after earnings:

The Trade Desk’s third-quarter revenue growth exceeded management’s 14% forecast by 4 percentage points. The firm also beat guidance on adjusted EBITDA margin, and management expects more margin expansion to come.

Why it matters: From large language models disrupting web traffic to increasing competitive intensity from Amazon, it has been anything but a smooth year for TTD. All obstacles considered, this quarter’s results—especially adjusted operating margin of 43%—were respectable.

• CEO Jeff Green doubled down on his assertion that Amazon’s demand-side platform isn’t a genuine threat, given the behemoth’s inclination to optimize advertiser spending for its own ecosystem (Prime, sponsored Marketplace ads) rather than the open internet. This strikes us as more aspirational than probable.
• More competition from a scaled competitor is detrimental to TTD’s profitability, especially when that competitor says it is targeting TTD’s market and charging lower fees to do so. Still, we think TTD’s nonbiased arbiter role will keep most advertiser customers on the platform.

The bottom line: We maintain our narrow moat rating but reduce our fair value estimate to $60 per share from $63, reflecting greater conviction that Amazon will capture at least a portion of TTD’s customers’ budgets. The shares appear modestly undervalued.

• We believe that both advertisers and publishers will come to appreciate TTD’s OpenPath, a direct connection between TTD’s platform and publisher supply, as it enhances supply chain efficiency by eliminating the need for profit-damping intermediaries.
• We like the recent appointment of Anders Mortensen as chief revenue officer. He brings valuable experience from scaling Google’s midmarket advertising segment, which is a promising expansion opportunity. Approximately 50% of the programmatic advertising market remains unfamiliar with TTD.

Read Morningstar’s full report on The Trade Desk.

Boston Scientific

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 3
• Morningstar Rating: 3 Stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Core
• Sector: Healthcare

The second narrow-moat stock on our list of top buys from the best managers, Boston Scientific stock trades right around our $99 fair value estimate.

Morningstar senior analyst Debbie Wang had this to say after Boston Scientific recently reported earnings:

Boston Scientific posted third-quarter operational top-line growth of 19%. Quarterly reported operating margin of 21% was supported by cardiovascular margin improvement of 260 basis points versus the prior-year period.

Why it matters: Boston continues to benefit from organic strength in its Farapulse (pulsed field ablation) and Watchman (left atrial appendage closure) franchises, both of which remain in the early innings of adoption.

• Despite increased competition from Johnson & Johnson’s Varipulse and Medtronic’s launch of Affera, Boston’s electrophysiology business still increased by 63%, suggesting that Boston has been successful at pulling patients over from medication and capturing more ablation market share.
• However, we’re watching Abbott’s European launch of its Volt PFA system because it can be used with conscious sedation. Currently, Farapulse and other competitive PFA systems are commonly used with general anesthesia or deep sedation, which limits the types of facilities that can provide PFA.

The bottom line: Narrow-moat Boston remains on track to meet our full-year expectations, and our minor adjustments didn’t materially move our $99 fair value estimate. The shares are fairly valued, in our view.

• With the recent Farapulse indication expansion to include persistent atrial fibrillation, which approximately doubles the patient pool, we anticipate that Boston will push its current advantage with practitioners, who seem to favor the system’s ease of use and quick procedure time.
• The longer-term prospects of the Farapulse franchise more than outweigh the near-term loss of Boston’s TAVR business as it exits that market (dragging down results in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa).

Big picture: We’re also bullish on Boston’s acquisition of SoniVie, as the application of ultrasound for renal denervation could give Medtronic’s radio frequency-based Symplicity Spyral a run for its money, despite the latter’s two- to three-year head start.

Read Morningstar’s full report on Boston Scientific.

Arista Networks

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 2
• Morningstar Rating: 3 Stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Growth
• Sector: Technology

Arista Networks is the fourth and final wide moat name on our list of stocks that top investors have been investing in. Shares look fairly valued today.

Here’s Morningstar senior analyst William Kerwin’s take on Arista Network’s earnings report:

Arista Networks’ third-quarter earnings beat management guidance, with sales rising 28% year over year to $2.31 billion. Fourth-quarter guidance implies a deceleration of sequential revenue growth. Management raised its 2025 and 2026 guidance to factor in the results and near-term guidance.

Why it matters: Arista is benefiting from strong data center and artificial intelligence networking demand, which is driving the majority of the firm’s growth this year. We expect AI infrastructure buildouts to keep Arista’s growth high in the medium term.

• We view Arista as a major share taker in high-speed networking for public clouds and AI. We see Arista and Nvidia as the best-of-breed Ethernet networking providers, and together leading the transition to Ethernet over Nvidia’s proprietary InfiniBand.
• Arista is gaining meaningful market share in campus networks, too. The firm’s guidance for more than 50% campus growth in 2026 is impressive and attainable, in our view. This is a minority contributor to total results, but we like Arista’s widening exposure and market share gains.

The bottom line: We raise our fair value estimate for wide-moat Arista to $140 per share, from $120, after raising our data center forecast. Shares fell 10% after hours, likely due to missing lofty investor expectations despite meeting FactSet consensus expectations. Arista looks fairly valued.

• Arista raised its 2026 guidance but only by the amount of its higher 2025 guidance. We continue to see the firm’s guidance as conservative and model well above it. Our model comes in above $11 billion next year (24% growth), versus $10.65 billion guided (20%).
• Longer-term, we’re confident in Arista maintaining close to 20% growth through the end of the decade, above management’s midteens growth target. We see enduring AI infrastructure demand supporting our forecast, and Arista’s high earnings multiple looks justified against strong growth.

Read Morningstar’s full report on Arista Networks.

Keurig Dr Pepper

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 2
• Morningstar Rating: 4 Stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Mid Value
• Sector: Consumer Defensive

The first of two consumer defensive names on our list of stocks top managers have been buying, Keurig Dr Pepper is trading 14% below our $32 fair value estimate.

Morningstar analyst Dan Su had this to say about the company’s recent results:

Keurig Dr Pepper’s sales and adjusted EPS grew 11% and 6%, respectively, in the third quarter. The firm raised its 2025 sales outlook to high-single-digit (from mid-single-digit) growth and reaffirmed high-single-digit EPS growth.

Why it matters: Refreshment beverages (volumes up 11%) are set to remain the growth driver on soda innovation and expansion in energy and sports drinks. Coffee was weak, but investments from private equity and new executives in coffee may ease investor angst about its future after the JDE Peets deal.

• The firm announced a $7 billion capital injection from Apollo and KKR in coffee pod manufacturing and in the refreshment beverage segment. We view the investments favorably, which are expected to cut net leverage by a turn to 4.6 times at the deal closure.
• The coffee spinoff remains on track for the end of 2026, but CFO Sudhanshu Priyadarshi (who has limited consumer good experience) is no longer slated to be the head. Instead, we think newly promoted top managers for US coffee and global supply chain could be candidates for the role.

The bottom line: We don’t plan any material changes to our $32 fair value estimate for narrow-moat Keurig Dr Pepper. Despite a 7% rise after the report and management updates regarding the acquisition and the coffee spinoff, shares remain undervalued at a 10% discount.

• With the firm posting growth of 8% in sales and 10% in adjusted EPS in the first three quarters and our expectation for its refreshment beverage strength to hold, we plan to raise our 2025 estimates (mid-single-digit increases in sales and EPS) to align with management’s revised outlook.
• While the 12% refreshment beverage sales growth year to date benefited from the Ghost deal, we think the segment can grow at a 5%-7% pace on the strength of the Dr Pepper brand longer term. We maintain our 3% coffee sales growth estimate assuming no top-line synergy from acquisition.

Read Morningstar’s full report about Keurig Dr Pepper.

Kroger

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 2
• Morningstar Rating: 3 Stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Mid Value
• Sector: Consumer Defensive

The second consumer defensive name on our list of stocks that top managers were buying last quarter, Kroger looks fairly valued: The stock trades 4% above our $65 fair value estimate.

Here’s what Morningstar senior analyst Dan Wasiolek thought of Kroger’s last earnings release:

Kroger’s second-quarter same-store sales grew 3.4% and full-year guidance increased 30 basis points to 2.7%-3.4%, helped by inflation and some improvement in volumes (unquantified). Gross margins decreased 9 basis points excluding a sold business amid enduring investments.

Why it matters: We think Kroger’s loyalty program, private-label assortment, and investments in pricing and e-commerce position it relatively well in an uncertain macroeconomic landscape. We view this strategic focus as key, given consumers’ search for value.

• We believe Kroger is garnering consumer interest with its loyalty program (90% of transactions), which helps it offer targeted promotions as consumers are using more coupons, and an expanding private-label presence (27% of retail sales), where the firm’s sales are outpacing national brands.
• E-commerce sales increased 16% on improved profitability (unquantified). We see Kroger’s continued efforts behind improving fulfillment and delivery times as prudent, given our view that online capabilities are a requirement to remain relevant in the intensely competitive grocer market.

The bottom line: We don’t expect to change our $63 per share fair estimate for no-moat Kroger materially. We think investors are too optimistic about the firm’s ability to endure current margin levels amid ongoing competition from grocers, supercenters, warehouse clubs, and online retailers.

• We believe cost efficiencies and the benefit of selling its lower margin specialty pharma business will help keep 2025 adjusted EBITDA margins flat with last year at 5.4%, but required investments in pricing and fulfillment drive a decrease to 5.1% by 2030.
• Helped by inflation, we see same-store-sales growth of 3% in 2025, easing to 2.5% thereafter. We think sales could be helped by artificial intelligence efforts to enhance inventory stocking and customized promotions, although we expect competitors to also develop these capabilities.

Read Morningstar’s full report on Kroger.

McKesson

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 3
• Morningstar Rating: 2 Stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Core
• Sector: Healthcare

The most overvalued stock on our list of stocks that top managers have been buying, McKesson stock is trading 13% above our fair value estimate of $760.

Morningstar analyst Keonhee Kim had this to say about McKesson after earnings:

McKesson delivered 10.1% year-over-year revenue growth and $9.86 adjusted earnings per share during the second fiscal quarter.

Why it matters: Resilient underlying demand in the distribution market underpinned the core business’s growth, and contributions from recently closed Core Ventures and PRISM lifted the multispecialty segment.

• GLP-1s (diabetes/weight loss) drove 40% of segment sales gains and now make up 15% of total segment revenue. We see the product’s continued penetration as a main driver of industry growth in the near term. McKesson’s technology solutions also enjoy the uptake, since services like prior authorization have seen robust growth.
• Investments in specialty assets are already paying dividends on both the top and bottom lines. Bringing on higher-margin businesses like managed services organizations, in our view, plays a crucial role in segment margin expansion, as we saw during the quarter, as margin rose 20 basis points, and we expect the trend to continue playing out over the midterm.

The bottom line: We raise narrow-moat McKesson’s fair value estimate to $760 per share from $680 to reflect recent cash flows and higher guidance. We expect fiscal 2026 sales to be up 14% and adjusted EPS to land at $38.65, both of which are above guidance midpoints.

• McKesson’s track record of solid execution and guidance lifts gives us conviction that the firm is well-positioned to achieve all of its full-year targets.
• Having said that, we still see shares overvalued by about a low-teens percentage. The three major US drug distributors, in our opinion, have all benefited from a strong utilization trend, and our favorable near-term outlook certainly bakes that in, but we continue to think investor overenthusiasm on the industry has lifted industry multiples to a record high and deviates from fundamentals.

Read Morningstar’s full report on McKesson.

Qualcomm

• Number of Best Managers Buying the Stock: 4
• Morningstar Rating: 3 stars
• Morningstar Style Box: Large Value
• Sector: Technology

Qualcomm rounds out our list of stocks that the best managers have been investing in. It’s also the fourth technology name on our list.

Here’s what Morningstar’s Colello had to say about Qualcomm after earnings:

Qualcomm reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $11.3 billion, up 10% year over year and above the high end of guidance. Revenue for the December quarter is expected to be $12.2 billion, which would be up 8% sequentially and 5% year over year.

Why it matters: Qualcomm continues to execute well, as all three of its QCT chip segments (handsets, autos, and Internet of Things) exceeded management’s expectations.

• We’re impressed with Qualcomm’s handset business, as it is achieving growth in the Android space as consumers shift toward premium Android phones versus midrange or entry-level, all while Qualcomm is capturing higher pricing on its processor lineup.
• QCT handset revenue grew 14% year over year, despite the early innings of chip market share losses at Apple. Qualcomm’s modems are absent from the iPhone Air this year and will likely be out of all models in fiscal 2027.

The bottom line: We maintain our $185 fair value estimate for narrow-moat Qualcomm and view shares as slightly undervalued. Shares fell about 2% after hours Nov. 5, and we suspect it is because Qualcomm punted on disclosing details into its data center business until early 2026.

• We anticipate that Qualcomm’s newly announced artificial intelligence products might move the company’s stock price, one way or the other, in the months ahead. Data center AI processors represents a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for Qualcomm.

Coming up: Qualcomm’s QCT revenue forecast of $10.6 billion would be up 8% sequentially and 5% year over year.

• Qualcomm expects low-teens sequential growth in handsets, again thanks to its content wins in Android smartphones. Auto chip sales will likely grow a low-teens percentage year over year.
• Qualcomm remains the dominant smartphone processor vendor, in our view, and we like its promising opportunities in autos and IoT. PCs and now AI processors are the wild cards to our valuation, and favorable execution here could present upside to the stock.

Read Morningstar’s full report on Qualcomm.

How Do We Determine Which Stocks the Best Managers Are Buying?

To determine which stocks top managers are investing in, we compared the latest portfolios of these funds with their portfolios three months before. We then calculated a “buy score” for each stock, which is a weighted average that allows us to make apples-to-apples comparisons of the most-purchased stocks. One or two managers making large purchases of a stock could lead to the same buy score as many managers purchasing small amounts of a stock.

Morningstar senior editor Margaret Giles and lead developer Lauren Solberg developed the methodologies and tools required to create this content.